Brussels, Wis. (July 1, 2026) — The Belgian Heritage Center (BHC) is honored to announce it has received an $8,000 grant from Destination Door County’s Community Investment Fund to support improvements to the historic Our Lady of the Snows Cemetery, located adjacent to the Belgian Heritage Center in Namur.
The grant was presented by Jon Jarosh of Destination Door County to Bill Chaudoir, BHC Fundraising
Chairman, and Joe Alexander, BHC President.
Our Lady of the Snows Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Door County’s earliest settlers. Located on the former St. Mary of the Snows campus, now home to the Belgian Heritage Center, the cemetery was active from 1860 until April 1911, when the parish established a new cemetery nearby.
In the 1960s, the original stone grave markers were moved to rows of concrete slabs to protect them from damage caused by shifting soils. While this preservation effort safeguarded the historic markers, the cemetery’s unique layout often leaves visitors unaware that the expansive green space beside the museum is, in fact, a historic burial ground.
Funding from the Community Investment Fund will be used to establish a clearly defined boundary around the cemetery, helping visitors recognize the sacred nature of the site while distinguishing it from the surrounding Belgian Heritage Center campus. The project is being completed in cooperation with the St. Francis and St. Mary parish and will enhance both preservation efforts and the visitor experience while honoring the generations of Belgian immigrants and early settlers buried there.
“We are extremely grateful to Destination Door County and the Community Investment Fund for their generous support,” said Joe Alexander, President of the Belgian Heritage Center. “This project will help preserve an important piece of Door County’s history while ensuring the cemetery is recognized and respected as the sacred resting place of our ancestors.”
The cemetery improvement project has also been made possible through generous support from the Raibrook Foundation, The Maihaugen Foundation, and John & Polly Alberts.
The Belgian Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history, culture, and contributions of Wisconsin’s Belgian-American community through educational programming, exhibits, historical preservation, and community events. The historic cemetery remains an important part of that mission, serving as a tangible connection to the area’s earliest Belgian settlers.
For more information, follow the Belgian Heritage Center on Facebook or visit www.belgianheritagecenter.org.
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